GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If you're hanging out this weekend and need a sports-related trivia stumper, we've got you covered.
Gators freshman quarterback
DJ Lagway was recently named Gatorade National Player of the Year. Lagway is the jewel of Florida's 2024 recruiting class and a promising prospect at the game's vital position. Still, barring a significant curveball, it's doubtful Lagway is one day headed to Cooperstown.
However, former Minnesota catcher
Joe Mauer is.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, in football, Mauer was once named Gatorade National Player of the Year. A standout quarterback at Cretin-Derham Hall (Minn.) High School, Mauer committed to play at Florida State but opted to sign with his hometown Twins when they made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 MLB amateur draft.
So, if you're looking to pull one over on that he-thinks-he-knows-everything pal, try this one: Who is the only winner of the Gatorade National POY award in football to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame? Yes, Joe Mauer.
Now, on to the scheduled portion of the program. Here is Installment No. 2 of Three Tidbits:
1. Former Gators offensive lineman
Cheston Blackshear is moving from UF for a third time. He played for the Gators from 1995-99, served as a graduate assistant from 2002-04, and was on head coach
Billy Napier's support staff as an offensive line analyst for the past two seasons. Blackshear has joined Army coach
Jeff Monken's staff as tight ends coach. The on-field position is nothing new for Blackshear, whose coaching career includes stops at Dartmouth, Nevada, Georgetown, New Mexico and Columbia. "We are proud to welcome Cheston Blackshear to the Army Football Brotherhood,'' Monken said Tuesday. "Cheston will be a fantastic fit for our culture as he has a wide variety of experience from his playing career at Florida to his coaching tenure there that will add a lot of knowledge, making an immediate impact in the development of our young men." Blackshear shared a message to Gators fans on social media.
2. Wyatt Langford was in Omaha seven months ago, slamming home runs to help the Gators advance to the finals of the College World Series. He is now ranked one of the five best prospects in minor league baseball and has an invitation to big league spring training with the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers. Langford has an opportunity to make the opening-day roster after hitting .360 in 200 plate appearances during his quick rise through the Rangers' farm system last summer. Texas reportedly discussed promoting Langford to the majors near the end of the season but opted to call up outfielder
Evan Carter, who shined in the postseason. "We are excited to watch Wyatt Langford and all of our internal (non-roster invites) compete this spring in Surprise," said Rangers general manager
Chris Young. "We feel we have a very talented group coming to spring training, and we look forward to seeing who emerges as major league options for us." The Rangers enter spring training without a definitive DH, which could open the door for Langford, the No. 4 overall pick in last summer's MLB amateur draft.
3. The highly anticipated gymnastics meet between the Gators and Alabama on Friday night at the O'Dome is a homecoming for
Amelia Hundley, the former UF gymnast who helped the Gators win back-to-back Southeastern Conference regular-season titles in 2019-20. Hundley is in her first season as an Alabama assistant. After serving a season as a student assistant coach with the Gators, Hundley spent the 2022 and '23 seasons as the lead bars coach at North Carolina. She joined Alabama's staff in May. "Having known Amelia throughout her international elite career, I'm excited to see how our program feeds off the joyful, enthusiastic approach she will bring, along with her competitive drive to achieve at the highest level,'' Crimson Tide coach
Ashley Johnston said at the time. "Her perspective and expertise gained from both North Carolina and Florida are so valuable." Meanwhile, Hundley knows Florida's student assistant coach this season well. She and
Trinity Thomas were Gators teammates.
